CREVE COEUR — The Federal Emergency Management Agency again denied a village request for funds to reinforce the river embankment along Wesley Road, leaving the Village Board with a decision to make Wednesday about what to do next.

The village had applied for a grant to cover the cost to repair the riprap — which is basically a layer of large chunks of concrete that prevents erosion of the river bank — along Wesley Road.

According to village officials, the spring 2013 flood badly damaged the riprap, and the village needed about $100,000 to add more riprap to prevent the street from ever sinking down into the river.

FEMA denied the village’s first request in February because the village does not own the embankment and, therefore, cannot seek FEMA funds to fix it. The Village Board, however, appealed the decision on the grounds that while the village does not own the embankment, it has historically always been responsible for the riprap itself.

Village Attorney Phil Lenzini said that in the most recent denial letter, FEMA now claims that the riprap and the embankment are both “undamaged.”

“If they were correct, then perhaps no work needs to be done,” Lenzini said. “I don’t necessarily believe that.”

The Village Board will have to decide if it wants to spend more money to appeal the latest decision. Lenzini said he does not believe the village has $100,000 to do the work itself, so there is the chance that it could try to work up cheaper alternatives to address the problem, should the board decide not to appeal.

Another issue muddying the waters is a guardrail project that has been put on hold until a resolution can be reached regarding the riprap.

The Illinois Department of Transportation in 2012 awarded the village funds to install a guardrail along Wesley Road as a safety precaution, according to Village Engineer Alicia Hermann. Those funds, though, expire in June if they have not been used. The village has delayed the project in the hopes of getting more riprap installed first because once the guardrail is installed riprap repairs will become more costly.

The Village Board’s next meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the water department.

(This story has been corrected from the original version, which incorrectly identified the Illinois Emergency Management Agency as the government agency that denied the funding.)